My latest crocheting projects

Here recently, I've been in a crocheting mood. Maybe it's the maternal instinct kicking in causing me to want to "nest" or something. =) A couple of years ago, I started crocheting a shrug/sweater for Sydney with the yarn I had left over from her baby blanket. Before I started, I wasn't sure how much yarn I would need, because I was combining two patterns which were for adults (but could be made in any size). At the time, she was only 4 years old, so I didn't figure I would need very much. Unfortunately, I ran out. I tried for several months to find some more yarn to match, but because there was a dye lot for the yarn and it had been 4 years since I bought it, I couldn't find any. As a result, it got packed away until I could decide what I wanted to do with it.

Last week, I received a package of yarn from my mother-in-law that I had asked her to buy for me at Hobby Lobby. The store near her was the only one that was carrying the yarn I wanted, so I just sent her the money to get them for me. When I got the yarn, I was reminded of the second shrug/sweater that I started which was to be for Alyx. I had also run out of the yarn for that one and had to just pack it away until I could get the yarn to finish. Since I got the yarn in the mail, I decided to try to finish the shrug. When I pulled it out, I saw the little one that I had started for Sydney and decided to finish it off the best I could to let her play with it with her dolls.

Here's a picture of it "finished." It's made with a light purple, baby soft yarn. The unfinished portion is the cuff on the sleeves. There should be a ruffle very similar to the pattern on the collar.


Sydney decided that she wanted to put it on her bunny. Look how cute...


After I finished the purple one, I decided to finish the green one that I had started for Alyx. I knew it was going to be too small for Alyx, so I just finished it off and tried it on both Larissa and Sydney. It fit Larissa the best. This yarn is a fuzzy, eyelash-type yarn that has flecks of other colors woven into the strands. I used the same combination of patterns as I did with the purple one, but because the yarn is so different, it doesn't show the detail of the stitches as much. Oh well, it's soft and warm, and the kids love it! That's all that matters, right? =)

This picture shows more of the true color (at least on my computer). The other two are kind of muted and have almost a hint of blue, but it's green...somewhere between a pea green and lime green. The last picture shows more up close detail of the collar and tie as well as the flecks of color in the yarn.


I've already started on Alyx's shrug/sweater, but it's not anywhere near "picture ready." =) She chose the same kind of yarn as the green, but she wanted it to be in a light blue. Sydney has chosen a dark purple in the same kind of yarn. I can't wait to see how the different colors will look.

After I finish the shrugs, I will make a backpack for Alyx and Larissa. I made one for Sydney a couple of years ago, and made different style purses for the other two (that was their choosing, not mine.). Now, Alyx and Larissa want a backpack, too. =) Here are some pictures of the one I made for Sydney. I love the pom-poms! =)

Revival Meetings

We are planning to leave tomorrow afternoon to head up to my parents' house for a week and a half. My dad's church is having their winter revival with Evangelist Rich Tozour. Rich and his wife, Angela, have another couple (Michael and Candace Wessberg) that travel with them to coordinate and run the children's ministry during the revival services. Candace was my roommate during my freshman year at college, and I always enjoy catching up with her when I get the chance.

If you are interested in hearing any of his sermons, you can download them at this site:

https://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?SpeakerOnly=true&currSection=sermonsspeaker&Keyword=Rich^Tozour

I downloaded the first one entitled, "Prayer that Prevails," and I have been listening to it today. I am really looking forward to these services, knowing that there is always room for improvement in my Christian walk. If you are interested in attending any of the services, the revival will be held at New Testament Baptist Church in Floral City, FL (Call the church office at 352-726-0360 or just ask me for additional info.). Services will begin this Wednesday night, January 28th, at 7:00pm and will run through the following week, ending on Friday, February 6th (I think. It might go through Sunday, Feb. 8th). Usually they don't have services on Saturday, but services during the week will all begin at 7:00pm and on Sunday will be 9:45am for Sunday School, 11:00am for the morning service, and 6:00pm for the evening service.

For those of you who live in the Tampa area, it's only about an hour trip north. If you can make it, I'd love to see you there! If not, we'll see you when we return. =)

Spice Tea

This is a recipe that I meant to post a month or two ago before the cooler weather started, but as you all know, my life has been a crazy, busy mess. With the cold front coming through this weekend, we will be starting our second pot (of the week) tonight. =)

This warm, comforting drink has been a family favorite ever since I can remember, and now that we've made some changes to our eating habits, we have also made some changes to this recipe and still thoroughly enjoy it! Let me know if you try it and how you like it...

Ingredients:
*14 cups water
*12 regular-sized tea bags (We use a lemon herbal tea to cut out caffeine. FYI: Decaf tea only decreases its caffeine content by 2% from regular tea.)
*3-6 cinnamon sticks (I use 6 to make sure we can taste it...it's not too strong.)
*2 cups sweetener (We have used evaporated cane juice, but to eliminate glycemic index concerns, we use agave nectar. I haven't been able to tell a difference between the two.)
*3 cups unsweetened orange juice (We like it with extra pulp, but you can get it without if you don't care for that.)
*1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice (We get the big cans and then freeze the leftovers in 1 cup portions so that they are ready for the next batch.)
*3/4 cup lemon juice

Boil water, tea and cinnamon sticks for 7-10 minutes. Remove tea bags and sticks and add sweetener. If using a granulated sweetener, stir until dissolved. Add juices and heat just to boiling. It's now ready to drink...Enjoy!

It's a ???????

Well, for those of you who may not have known (or maybe had forgotten), today was my ultrasound at which we could find out what gender the baby would be. Two of my girls were happy with the results, one was not. =) She has since warmed up to the idea, but was at first disappointed.

Are you ready to find out?

Well, you'll have to wait just a little bit longer. (Don't skip to the end! That's cheating!!!) =)

Here are some pictures to whet your appetite...

You can see the bones of the baby's hand in front of it's face.

In this one, the baby brought it's hand up to it's face...maybe sucking on some fingers?

Here's the baby's profile.

Baby's profile in sepia.

You can see the baby's leg in this profile shot. It was kicking around quite a bit during the ultrasound. =)

Are you ready now? It's a....

BOY!!!!

Happy Birthday, Alyx!

Yesterday was Alyx's 9th birthday, but we actually celebrated with my family this past Saturday. We usually let each child pick what kind of meal they want for their birthday party and what kind of cake they want as well. When I asked Alyx what she wanted for her meal, she said, "Macaroni and cheese!" As you know, we have gone dairy-free, but we've decided that for special events and holidays, we'll let the rules slide a little bit. =) Since that was all she requested, we built a meal around that one dish. My mom fixed some BBQ beef that we put on toasted sesame seed buns and a big pan of baked beans. My sister, Kyra, brought a big pan of macaroni and cheese made with Fusilli pasta (you know, the twirly corkscrew stuff). Macaroni made fun! =) It was all very DE-lish!

She chose a chocolate cake with white frosting, but while we were at my parents' church celebrating the 30th anniversary of the church, we had dinner on the grounds and had a piece of Mississippi Mud cake. Alyx decided that she wanted that instead of a regular cake. Fine by me! =)

She wanted to be the one to put the candles on her cake.

While she was doing that, Jason was trying to get her to group them more together, so it would be easier to blow them out. She insisted on putting them in a straight line.

It wasn't until she turned the pan that we realized what she was thinking. She's pretty smart...

Make a wish!

She got 'em all...

You gotta lick the candles...

"Sisters, sisters...there were never such devoted sisters..." (Have you seen White Christmas?)

Uncle Richard (a.k.a. Uncle Ritardo) is the all-time cake cutter, because he's the BEST!! =)

After we (throroughly) enjoyed the cake, it was time to open presents. The gift that I was most excited about giving her and that (I think) was her favorite was a new digital camera. Since I got her a scrapbooking kit for Christmas, I thought that it would be nice for her to be able to take pictures that she could use on her pages. Here she is with her camera (which is in her favorite color no less, RED!!)...

Post-Christmas Activities

The day after Christmas, the girls were able to try out their skates for the first time. They were thrilled! Alyx and Larissa did pretty good. Sydney couldn't hold herself up, so in order for her to "skate," we had to basically carry her weight around (Not very good on the back). At first, Larissa had some balance issues, but I gave her a broom to carry around with her. That helped her to keep her balance and figure out how to skate. Here are some pictures of Alyx and Larissa skating around my parents' driveway.





Sydney is not always the most graceful creature on earth. =) She tends to be kind of clumsy, but I guess most kids are. She kept falling and getting all kinds of "boo-boos" which necessitated many band-aids. She took off running outside one day and tripped and fell on the driveway. Granny's colorful band-aids helped to ease the pain. =)


Mom took me out to her "green house" to show me some flowers that survived the winter. Here is one that actually blooms this time of year. It's called a Christmas cactus.



My mom had been working on sewing some blankets for the girls and finished them up the week of New Year's. She used coordinating flannel fabrics to make them two-sided. (Click on the pictures to get a closer view.) Sydney's has frogs on one side and dots and stripes on the other. Larissa's has flowers and butterflies on one side with stripes on the other. Alyx's has flowers on one side and stripes on the other. I may have to borrow hers. It has some of my favorite colors. =)

Christmas Day

It has been our tradition to spend Christmas with my parents. We could not imagine it any other way...we LOVE having all the family around!

Ever since the girls have been old enough to get up and leave the bedroom on their own in the morning, I've had to tell them to wait for me to get up on Christmas morning so that I can see their reaction (and get pictures) of all the presents and stuff. My kids don't wake up at the crack of dawn (and I don't sleep in), so it's not like they have to wait long. In fact, I woke up just before they did this year.

Here they are on my bed just before we headed out to see the presents. They're not excited or anything... =)

Here they are checking it all out...

My kids must not be normal, because every year we give them the option of either opening their presents or eating breakfast. What do you think they choose? Breakfast!!! Every time!! So, we head into the kitchen to have our annual treat of sausage balls. Yummy!!


After breakfast, the kids dug into their stockings. They got some new "lip stick," stickers, candy (organic), notepads and pens, various toys and jewelry, puzzle books (word search, sudoku, etc.).


As a tradition since I was a kid, we have always let each child take a turn opening a present, so that we can see each one and the reaction to each (and of course to get a picture). Whenever they get an identical present, we let them all three open at the same time, because they will know after one is opened what the other two are. One of these such presents was a pair of roller skates for each of them. Needless to say...they loved them!

Larissa loved the pillow that Alyx made for her. Look how sweet they are...

The girls enjoy picking out a present for each other. This was one that was given to Larissa from Sydney (I think). I just thought it was so fitting for her since she has always been our mischievous one. She's trouble, alright! =)

Alyx got a scrapbook kit. Maybe if I have a scrapbooking buddy, I'll be more apt to keep up with my own scrapbooks. =)

Sydney got a "Cookin' Cookie" game from Larissa. It's a cute, fun game. The kids really enjoyed playing it.

Another gift that they got alike was a pack of glitter glue. Yay! Lots of fun crafting in our future! =) I guess it's better than loose glitter being sprinkled on glue. =)



Sydney was too young when the older two girls got their "real" tea sets (non-plastic), so she's really been begging for one of her own this year. She finally got it...

Papa was the official tape cutter for the girls' boxes. =) Thank you, Papa!

The girls are freezing cold every morning (even in the summer). They say it's because they have cold milk in their cereal and then drink cold juice, and for 30 minutes or so after breakfast they will huddle under blankets. I decided that they would probably enjoy some robes to help keep them warm. Here's Alyx and Sydney with their robes...

What's in the big bags from Granny and Papa?

It's American Girl dolls!!! They did not expect these, but they really wanted them. Boy, were they surprised! Thank you, Granny!!

The girls and I enjoy the "Anne" movies, so I thought that we could read through the books as a "bedtime story" kind of thing.

Here's the aftermath... =)

When things had time to settle down a little bit, this is what I found Alyx doing. They each got a book with their American Girl dolls, and she was snuggled on the couch reading hers. =)


We had a very, merry Christmas with our family! I hope you all did as well!